[Winona Online Democracy]
Continual turnout of eligible voters of 30% or less is indeed turning us
into a "TV Democracy". Americans have become conditioned to tune in to
watch what happens regarding political issues in an "us vs. them" sportslike
mentality.
True democracy recognizes that there will always be political winners and
losers but that the discussion and interaction that is part of the process
in the long run are even more important that who the actual winner is.
We can complain about the process and the rules but ultimately we end up
getting the government we deserve by our participation or lack of it.
So what then to do? Remember that small actions make a big difference.
The Utne Reader recently had some interesting ideas on how to improve
turnout. Here is a paraphrase of the Feb '04 Utne Reader suggestions.
1. Free Beer and other ways to make democracy a party
Turn election day into a social gathering for neighbourhoods to get
together. First beer is free with an "I Voted" sticker or whatever.
Basically, after you've voted, the neighbourhood can gather for a social
occasion.
2. Election Day on the weekend - or make it a holiday
Makes sense, since everyone who wants to vote generally has to go through
tons of traffic. For the people who work 9 to 5, they are ALL going before
work or AFTER work, at the SAME TIME. Traffic congestion and time
constraints mean lower voter turnout. Sweden has a national election day.
Their suggestion: Democracy Day.
3. Voter Discounts
"I Voted" stickers could be redeemed for discounts from local businesses for
that day. Local businesses are part of the neighborhood, and elections are
neighborhood things, which is a way for them to remind the community they're
part of it, unlike the big box chains popping up all over.
4. Free Lottery Tickets
Every voting receipt becomes entered into a great big lottery. Here is how
Utne worded it: "The only thing Americans like as much as shopping and
parties is the chance to make something from nothing." This sounds silly,
but when you think of how much money we must put towards promoting elections
and getting people out, and how little it actually does, it sounds a bit
less silly.
5. A Tax Break For Voters
Why not? It doesn't have to be a huge cut, but it could help.
6. Fines For People Who Don't Vote
They called it an apathy tax. According to the article, Australia does this,
and they got a 95% voter turnout for the last election.
7. Online, Phone, or Mail Voting
If people are too busy to get to the poll, give them a chance to
participate.
Dave Derks
[Winona] Your Vote Matters
Tom Severson toms at seversonoil.com
Sun Aug 29 12:22:05 CDT 2004
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People who say they do not like any of the candidates need to realize
that most of us make choices every day based on the best choice not what we
want. In short not a excuse.
Money corruption I agree with. The Promise example in Wisconsin was the
best example of not spending to buy a election, but being with and of the
people to win.
Mistrust is another serious problem on all sides, but without trust no one
would do anything. I submit there is more trust than we realize. I know I
couldn't do what I do if I didn't trust people.
Democracy will always be debated. Our problem now seems to be more the
"Mentality of a Nanny Government" that through mistrust is pushing us
towards a socialist system where corporations have assets, individuals work,
but the government takes the fruits of the labor.
Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: winona-bounces at mnforum.org [mailto:winona-bounces at mnforum.org]On
Behalf Of Dwayne Voegeli
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2004 11:15 AM
To: winona at mnforum.org
Subject: Re: [Winona] Your Vote Matters
[Winona Online Democracy]
I fear the voting numbers that Craig gave, sad as they may be, or actually
worst.
I don't believe we've hit 60% in any kind of presidential election in a
very long time. Maybe never if you trully count eligible voters and not
just registered voters. That is a huge difference.
Voter turnout in America is either the worst or among the worst rates in
the industrialized world.
Why is that?
There is no one single simple reason but some of the reason are well known
and well documented. They include:
1. Lack of choices: The more political parties and candidates the people
have to choose from, the more people vote. Voter turn out levels were at
record highs when Jesse Ventura, Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, and other so
called third party candidates ran in the past. I apologize to all of my
Democratic and Republican friends but two parties just don't cut it in a
huge and very diverse country like ours. They have rigged the system to
form a two party monopoly and try to prevent simple reforms like IRV,
Instant Runoff Voting, and others from rocking their boats.
2. Money Corruption: Many people have a negative attitude about politics
because most people know at some level that the process is controlled by
money. That then means the rich and powerful control the system. Why
should the small guy even bother? It use to be that the Republicans were
the millionaire's club but now it seems you also have to be a millionaire
to run as a Democrat (i.e. Mark Dayton, Herb Kohl, et al). Publicly funded
campaigns that are optional would be a huge improvement. Maine and Arizona
already have them for their state races. Of course that's easier said than
done because many groups benefit from the status quo. Good luck trying to
change a system that the huge media, insurance, and drug corporations
control. For the record, the huge unions don't seem to interested in real
reforms either.
Here are some other reasons that may be open to discussion and/or debate...
3. We live in a country that was created with an intentional and
fundamental mistrust of the common people. Some important improvements
have been made (abolition of slavery, women's rights, direct election of
U.S. Senators, etc.) but we still have relics of that elitist age. The
Electoral College and winner take all systems are but a few examples.
4. Our democracy has been turned into a shallow and insipid media circus.
We are spectators and not participants in the democratic system. It's like
calling people who watch football on Sundays, athletes. The media has
great potential but it also has a potential to do negative things. I
sometimes wonder what would happen if people stopped watching t.v. and
listening to the radio for the 3-4 months before the election. What if we
read and had real discussions instead? The media's low standards and
shallowness have dragged our democracy down. Of course it's difficult to
have real media reform until we get real voting reforms.
5. Our country's size. The ancient Athenians believed the ideal size for
a democracy was between 5,000-10,000 citizens. When our country was formed
it's population was only a little bigger than what Minnesota is today and
Minnsota is a very small state population wise today.
A little historical perspective about our democracy is that we didn't set
the
House of Representatives at 435 in 1776. It was set as a ratio, one rep
for every 60,000. During WWII Congress said, that's enough, the capitol is
full, we're going to stop. Today it's about 600,000 per U.S.
Representative.
How often will you meet Gil Gutnechkt? Then again, it's not his fault.
Our First Congressional District now stretches from the Mississippi River
all the way to the Dakotas.
Can our current system really be called a democracy anymore?
Remember that ancient Rome used to be a republic but then it morphed into
an empire over time. They still went through the motions of being a
democracy but the reality had changed and most people did not see it
happening. Before long the aristocrats and nobles had twisted the system
back to their benefit.
Not one democracy has survived in history. One of the main reasons
democracies have fallen is that the aristocrats and nobles of the time
always fight to reverse any democratic gains that may have been made in the
past.
Is America today run for the benefit of all?
Is or has America turned into an empire?
Is that a good thing?
Is that inevitable? Are there alternatives?
Could we return power from the federal government back to the states and
even further down the line?
6. Our schools don't really teach democracy. We talk about democracy but
we don't practice what we preach. John Dewey pointed out that problem at
the turn of the last century. Our society will only be as democratic as
our schools are.
There are other important reasons but I'll stop there. I've been told I
write too much in my e-mails.
School starts tommorrow. Now I can torture my students with context.
;->
Dwayne
August 29, 2004
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